Lite-On IT lowered Taiwanese retail prices for its LWV-5045, a 160GB HDD (hard disk drive)-DVD recorder, from US$785-789 to US$627-628. Sampo Corporation, meanwhile, a large local maker of consumer electronics, on February 2 launched an 80GB HDD-DVD recorder, model DV-RH680, available for retail sale at US$470-471.

Lite-On IT originally introduced the LWV-5045 at a tentative retail price of NT$26,800 on November 18, 2004 and later decreased the price to NT$24,900. Lite-On IT's decision was prompted by BenQ offering its 160GB HDD-DVD recorder model DE305S for sale in Taiwan at a retail price of NT$18,900 (US$596-597).

Chairman Gary Chen of Gish International, the Taiwan general sales agent for Lite-On IT, is confident of the competitiveness of the LWV-5045 because of the advantages offered by its Dual format (DVD+R/RW and DVD-R/RW), despite the NT$1,000-higher price of BenQ's DE305S.

Sampo launched the DVD+R/RW-supporting DV-R1, the first DVD-recorder model in Taiwan, in September 2003, and the DV-R88ATN, a 4.8cm-thin DVD-recorder model, in August 2004, the company indicated.

According to Sampo, the DV-RH680 features the following functions: single format DVD+R/RW; a dimension size of 430?68?33mm; a recording capacity of 101 hours; and eight pre-scheduled simultaneous recordings. As well, the unit supports time shifting. Originally priced at NT$17,000 (US$536-537), a discount price of NT$14,900 is being offered as a sales promotion and is available for the first 300 buyers only, the company stated.

Local retail channels estimate that about 50,000 DVD recorders were sold in Taiwan last year, and this year's sales volume may grow to 80,000-100,000 recorders.